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Thread: High speed film for 4x5

  1. #21
    jesse1996's Avatar
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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    I suppose TMAX 400 would be a great choice with so many recommendations, I am intrigued with acros as well since I will just be doing star trails and not actual tracking (yet) I'd have to also buy a tracking tripod head that could hold a 4x5 camera. that would be really great for getting the milky way with some color film, id suspect velvia 50 would be good for that since the night sky doesnt have terribly much contrast other than the stars themselves which id want to "pop" anyways.
    I do really want to know what film Xkaes used for his star trail shots. I've heard that color film can suffer from color shifts with long exposures that require filters to correct it or lots of work in post either in the dark room or digital editing.
    Would anyone recommend Ektar 100 since it has a pretty full proof dynamic range? I'm not sure how it reacts with long 10-15min exposures so input on that and any other possible color films would be good as well. I'm looking to buy two boxes on this trip, one color and one B&W and would like relative utilitarianism from one of them or both.

  2. #22

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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    Jesse,

    Just using the same material someone else used doesn't mean you are going to get the same results. Usually, not even close.

    The kind of questions you are asking indicates you have no familiarity at all with the kind of photography you seem to want to do. One of the worst mistakes a photographer can make is to take a single piece of new gear on a trip, expecting everything to "go right" with the experience. You seem to be asking for advice all over the place. If you have no experience using LF, just getting some film, based on recommendations and going on a trip to the desert Southwest and expecting great results (or even any results) is likely to be a painful experience.

    I suggest you start practicing at home doing star trails and landscape scenes. Use one B&W film and one color film and get to the point where you are getting dependable results before you try to take your act on the road.

    It's hard enough to master all the many little tasks that are required in LF work without adding the stress of being on the road in a (potentially) hostile environment. It's not uncommon for beginners to make unintended mistake after mistake until all those little things become almost automatic.

    (Believe me, the places you plan to photograph will test you greatly. I used to live in Arizona. It's astonishingly beautiful, but challenging).

  3. #23

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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    Quote Originally Posted by jesse1996 View Post
    id suspect velvia 50 would be good

    Would anyone recommend Ektar 100 since it has a pretty full proof dynamic range?

    For night it's much better Velvia 100 than 50, because reciprocity failure and speed, for day I normally prefer 50 because yellows are depicted warmer than velvia 100 , and I like that.

    Ektar is also useful at night.


    See velvia datasheets and how magenta filters have to be used for long exposure, with velvia 50 you have to use filters very soon. Always read datasheets twice !!!

    Regards

    See chapter Velvia 50 "5) Long exposure compensation", it tells what filter to use. Then see with Velvia 100,

    http://www.fujifilm.com/products/pro..._datasheet.pdf

    http://www.fujifilm.com/products/pro..._datasheet.pdf



    http://imaging.kodakalaris.com/sites..._ektar_100.pdf

  4. #24

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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    I've mostly done color night shots and mostly in winter in the Arizona desert such as the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge where you can't avoid the Milky Way. Aqua Prieta NWR, Superstition MTs, and Mazatzal Wilderness are also great, among others. It's easy to get away from the city lights in AZ. I just wait for the sun to set which is pretty early and fast in the winter desert. Most shots are not tracked, but I have sometimes used a home-made Star Tracker -- from the book, "Handbook for Star Trackers -- Making and Using Star Tracking Camera Platforms", Jim Ballard, 1988.

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    The problem with tracking is that you have to stay with the camera and move the bolt every 10-30 seconds or so since it is not motorized. Gets boring after a while and I prefer the streaks, anyway. For these, I just set the shutter on T and leave it there until a wake up. The only possible problems are wind or the moon, so I need to know where that is or is going to be. The film I use is Agfacolor Optima 100 and 125 4x5. I never thought it was an unusual film, but Wikipedia doesn't list either in 4x5 in their extensive list of discontinued films. Actually, they don't list Optima 125 in ANY format -- and I KNOW it is discontinued, except for my freezer. That just proves, once again, that you can't believe everything you read on the Internet.

    I've never used any fill-in flash during these exposures for the foreground, but many have -- with great results. Because the exposures are so long, you can move around with the flash, popping it off as you like, and even illuminating any foreground items from different positions, with different filters, etc. Lots of possibilities.

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    If you want cliffs, etc. in the foreground, it's best to have a sensitive meter to get a reading, but you can't use it "as is" or it will come out too bright. So figure out how dark you want it. That is usually not a problem or you can just wing it/ignore it. Exposing the film is no problem. I set the focus to infinity and stop down a couple of stops. I process the film normally.
    Last edited by xkaes; 7-Jun-2017 at 10:16.

  5. #25

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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    Quote Originally Posted by jesse1996 View Post
    Would anyone recommend Ektar 100 since it has a pretty full proof dynamic range? I'm not sure how it reacts with long 10-15min exposures so input on that and any other possible color films would be good as well. I'm looking to buy two boxes on this trip, one color and one B&W and would like relative utilitarianism from one of them or both.
    Portra 160 (or the Portras in general) are better bets than Ektar latitude wise - I've found that a little over exposure tends to knock the colours off on Ektar, shadows going off in a blue-ish purple-ish direction particularly. Portra is very very forgiving in comparison - you can more or less just open the shutter & leave it for the amount of time that feels right. Portra 160 is also higher resolving than Ektar. A lot also depends on whether you plan to take it through a fully optical RA4 process or high res scan & colour correct.

  6. #26
    jesse1996's Avatar
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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    Noted folks, I ask the advice to avoid mistakes/wasting money that isn't always easy for me to come by. I have very limited LF experience (maybe 8 hours total) I suppose I do overthink a lot and get nervous with these sorts of things. Thanks for all the pointers.

  7. #27

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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    Quote Originally Posted by Pere Casals View Post
    I'm building my gas-hypering chamber...

    It can be done with a plain piece of steel pipe and a quality high vaccum pump. If vacuum is not very good then one can make more cycles of vacuum + filling with forming gas.

    http://www.astropix.com/html/i_astro.../hypering.html

    There is plenty of information from astronomers !!! thanks to them !!!

    Hypering is a funny adventure... with Acros there is no need about it, but LF Acros is to disappear .


    I disagree that TMY is close to Acros for that...


    We have to remember that shadows have much more LIRF than highlights, so the edge Acros has it is very important to conserve shadow detail, very soon it delivers some 3 stops advantage over TMY in the shadows.


    TMY is very, very far from Acros performance... but this depends a bit on the exposure time, and scene shadow depth...
    Pere,

    If you would like to read the best text I have found about the different methods to hyper film, try to find a copy of;

    "A Manual of Advanced Celestial Photography" Cambridge Press 1988 By Brad D Wallis & Robert W Provin

    ISBN 0 521 25553 8

    This was a VERY expensive book (about $150) back then, but now can be found for about $5 or $10 now from online booksellers...

    Excellent photographic theory and how-to... (I just found my copy while packing up for my move...) Just up your alley!!!

    Happy reading!!!

    Steve K

  8. #28

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    Re: High speed film for 4x5

    Quote Originally Posted by LabRat View Post
    Pere,

    If you would like to read the best text I have found about the different methods to hyper film, try to find a copy of;

    "A Manual of Advanced Celestial Photography" Cambridge Press 1988 By Brad D Wallis & Robert W Provin

    ISBN 0 521 25553 8

    This was a VERY expensive book (about $150) back then, but now can be found for about $5 or $10 now from online booksellers...

    Excellent photographic theory and how-to... (I just found my copy while packing up for my move...) Just up your alley!!!

    Happy reading!!!

    Steve K


    Thanks for your recommendation! I've just ordered it, 3,58€ , some 10€ with shipping

    I may receive it Jul 6....

    Click image for larger version. 

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